


The Sun Shines Bright in Welkenraedt

by itsaquinnquinnsituation



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-24
Updated: 2014-03-24
Packaged: 2018-01-16 21:55:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,625
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1363117
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/itsaquinnquinnsituation/pseuds/itsaquinnquinnsituation
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes the weathermen are wrong.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Sun Shines Bright in Welkenraedt

**Author's Note:**

> This is a work of fiction, and all characters, real or based off real people, do not belong to me. I am not making money off my work and this work is for entertainment purposes only. I do not mean to offend anyone.
> 
> This is my universe and exactly how I see it. Writing should be enjoyed, not judged.
> 
> I wrote this in response to "Mind"'s request on my story "It never rains in Belgrade." So, here you go, I hope you like this one as well.

Louis, looking quite out of place in his clean white shirt and dress trousers, sat in a shabby uncomfortable chair at a table for two in a tiny diner and gazed through a dusty window. The sky was covered with clouds, although skinny pale rays of sunlight still managed to seep through them to create glares on large shallow puddles on the beat-up asphalt. The weathermen were promising a rainy day in Welkenraedt, but Louis was not sure he trusted them. Although, he was also not sure that he didn’t.

Suddenly, his thoughts were interrupted by a tall lanky lad in black skinny jeans and jean jacket who, unnoticed by Louis, quietly entered the diner and was now looking directly at him. He had a huge mane of dark brown hair in somewhat disheveled curls and ringlets and although a bit rugged in his faded, worn-out clothing, he looked quite friendly and soft. Louis offered him a shy smile. The lad did not hesitate to return it, and waived. Louis mechanically waived back. The lad proceeded to walk up to Louis’ table, stopping only for a moment to order a tea and place two banknotes on the counter. By the time the lad finally pushed in his chair, Louis realized that he was still smiling. Both of them were.

“Hello” –started the lad, - “Well, it’s very nice to meet you. I’m Harry.”

Louis stumbled and had to clear his throat. He forced himself not to think about just how much he liked the lad’s voice:

“Y-yeah… n-nice to finally meet you too…. Harry, yeah… so.”

Louis looked down and felt his cheeks go red. He wondered if Harry noticed. A beat passed.

“Uh I…” – Harry began amicably, - “So about…”

“Your tea” – Butted in the diner owner, placing a steaming cup in front of the lad.

Harry chuckled.

“Fast service!” – He noted quietly to Louis after the man was back at reading a book behind the counter.

“There aren’t exactly any other customers here at the moment” – Louis whispered back and bit his lip.

Harry laughed softly.

“I like this place” – Louis said, relaxing a little.

“It’s cosy” – Harry smiled and plopped a huge sugar cube into his little tea cup. It made a rather big splash and Louis smiled. Harry sighed and shook his head, wiping small drops off with a napkin:

“So”, - he started again, - “Where is it that you live?”

“Not too far from here, actually” – Louis said cautiously and took a nervous look down at his coffee, which by now had become completely cold, - “I could walk here, but I drove.”

“I could bike here, but I walked. But I do have a driver’s licence. If I need it, I mean. I don’t own a car but I could drive one. I mean if I need to. For the job.”

“Uh… That’s… that’s good.” – Louis replied hesitantly and looked down again.

Harry swirled the melting sugar cube in his cup:

“And where is it that you work?”

“Oh, um… at… at the… well, we’re a small company. We… we… provide… accounting services.”

“Oh” – Harry smiled and leaned back a little, putting down his tea spoon, - “That’s not bad. I am a photographer by primary education. But this is Welkenraedt, you know…” 

Louis nodded. He knew exactly what Harry meant.

“So do you… I mean would you still want to work as a photographer if you could?”

“At this time I don’t know”, - Harry shrugged his shoulders, - “I’ve been doing various odd jobs lately. I kept hoping that after college I would not be coming back here, but life is not always a piece of cake. So I’ve gotten my first aid training, my food-handler’s permit, you know, other things. I am doing the best that I can.”

“We all do.” – Louis said.

“I don’t mean to be rude” – Harry continued, leaning forward again, - “But I could not do what you are doing. I mean, your job requires a lot of education and great work ethic. I am certainly not smart enough for that, but… I… I don’t know… I also need to work with people. You know? Speak to them, help them, care for them. To feel like I am useful and I am needed. You understand?”

Louis lifted his eyes:

“Uh… well, I mean… if you have friends… and your family…”

“Maybe… but I don’t. My family moved to the UK when I was in college because my stepfather got a job there. I got a brief goodbye visit. I don’t have money to visit them and they don’t have the time to visit me. I… Sorry, I don’t even know why I am saying this.”

Louis returned his stare to his coffee but still attempted to sneak a glance at his conversation partner. His thoughts were racing frantically and he was not sure he liked how the conversation has started. However, he also was not sure that he didn’t.

“Well, do you want to tell me more about yourself?” – He suggested lightly.

“Sure” – Harry welcomed the idea of getting away from the awkward moment, - “Born and raised in Dendermonde, lived there until my early teenage years. When I was about twelve, my grandfather, who was living here in Welkenraedt, broke his hip in a fall, and the fracture never healed. I cared for him until he died six years later. My mother sent me to live with him because my grandmother had passed away years earlier and there was nobody else to help him. We spent every single day together. I would get him ready for the day and leave him with a snack and stack of books before going to school. When I would come back, he would still be exactly how I left him, only his bookmark would be in a different place. I would cook us some food and go about other business. He was my world and I was his. He taught me everything I now know. He never stopped teaching me even as he was losing strength. And when he died I realized that I had completely missed out on being a teenager. But you know…” – Harry stopped looking through and focused on Louis’ eyes again with a gentle smile, - “If I had to do those years over again, I would not change a thing.”

Louis tilted his head:

“He was very important to you.” 

Harry nodded adamantly, putting his spoon into his tea cup again.

“He was my best friend. After he died, I went to college, but none of my acquaintances there were ever able to become the kind of friend that he was for me. Maybe spending all of my time with him made me a wee bit socially awkward. But I would never regret it. And I’m not saying it to… you know… I’m saying it because it’s true.”

And Louis knew that. That he was sure of.

“At least you had such a friend. I don’t think I ever did. I was quite skinny and small in school. I liked books and museums. I was rather shy, not going to lie, and that stayed with me for the rest of my life, hence, this… you know… I don’t know “ – He looked away from Harry again and felt his face going red. He didn’t imagine this meeting to go like this. But then, he didn’t know what to expect at all, because he’s never done something like this before. 

But Harry was looking at him and smiling a soft, gentle smile. Louis barely realized that his own face must have been looking exactly the same. 

“Well” – Harry said then, - “Maybe you could tell me more about your father?”

“M-my father?” – Louis turned his head in a snap and almost choked, - “W-what do you want to know about him?”

“Well… just that your email did not describe much about his condition and…”

Harry did not finish that sentence, but just as well because something started to slowly dawn on Louis, and he did not have the wits about him to remember to close his mouth. So it just hung open as Harry, still completely oblivious to Louis’ thoughts, gave him an embarrassed smile and motioned with his head as if asking what he did wrong. But before Louis could move a muscle, they received some unexpected help.

A slender, almost emaciated man, in black, poorly fitting suit jacket and baggy suit trousers burst in through the door of the diner, visibly out of breath. Flopping a giant pile of dog-eared papers onto the nearest table, he wiped the sweat off his forehead with his pale bony hand, then used it to pat down his disheveled jet-black hair. His lips, under long untidy mustache, were moving constantly, as if he was a rabbit. Noticing Harry and Louis, he made a dash for their table, but slipped on one of the papers that he had apparently dropped. Having barely kept his balance, he finally reached the table and stuck his hand out to Harry. Harry looked at it. Swallowing a big breath of air, the man exploded:

“Oh Harry, hello, I am so very sorry! My car wouldn’t start and then that damn road was closed, I totally forgot. I am so busy right now, all these things, I mean you know how lawyers are, and my father was especially cranky today, and I just…. God, what am I saying, thank you for waiting, I see you brought a friend, well, no worries, this won’t last very long at all, I’m…. Uh” – he took his hand back, even as Harry was still looking at it in a daze, and wiped his forehead again, taking in another breath, - “God, I am so sorry, I forgot to introduce myself, I am Alexander de Heuvel, and your friend?”

Harry, as if in slow motion, turned to Louis with the same wide-eyed dumbstruck expression. And that’s when Louis snapped out of it. And took a dash for the door.

He didn’t remember running so fast since his childhood, when he was chased by bullies after school. He stopped when he felt his heart was going to explode and sat on the ground, suit trousers and all, panting like a dog, wincing and wheezing, then got up again and started to walk around like a wind-up toy, hands in his hair, pulling and twisting it. He found himself near a small artificial pond with a waterfall and two benches set to overlook it. He didn’t care.

He paced back and forth, rubbing his hands over his neck and running them through his hair, chewing on his lips, whispering, cursing. He did that until he felt his surroundings swimming and felt that he could throw up, at which point he finally sat on one of the benches, buried his face in his hands and whined quietly. 

 

__________________________

 

When he finally dared to look at his watch, he noticed that it has been almost forty minutes since he ran out of the diner like a rabid dog. A million thoughts rushed back into his head, he thought of running again, perhaps going home, shutting the door, pulling down the blinds, maybe even locking himself in the bathroom and turning the water on to listen to it slosh even and loud, and just forgetting, forgetting, forgetting… That sounded like a good idea and maybe he could get there even faster if he could take his tr…

He stopped, feeling beads of cold sweat appear on his forehead and his hands starting to tremble.

His truck was still parked in front of the diner.

No, it could stay there for a few hours, that wasn’t the problem, but Harry… Harry would think…

What would Harry think? And what did he, Louis, actually make out of what has just happened? Louis attempted to pace again, but felt that his knees would give out, and leaned on the back of the bench. There was a good chance that Harry would connect the dots, and, worse, that he would wait until Louis came back for his truck. No, it certainly would be better if he just left a note, or nothing at all, God, that would be ideal, but somehow, Louis doubted that this lad would do it. 

Louis closed his eyes. Running out of the diner was ridiculous, that much was certain. And the least he could do to rectify the situation, even if only in his mind, is to go back and pick up his damn truck.

Whether Harry was still there or not.

Louis clenched his fists and started on his way. 

By the time he was nearing the diner, his heart started racing so fast that he was out of breath and dizzy even though he was walking at a regular brisk pace. He saw his truck, still standing alone in its parking spot and induced that Alexander had left. That much was good but it could tell him nothing about Harry. Louis gave out a quiet sigh.

He wasn’t sure he wanted to see Harry. But he wasn’t sure that he didn’t.

He reached the truck, still out of breath and shaking and started to walk around it to get to the driver side door. He dared not to look at the diner. 

Just then the door opened and Harry all but jumped out of it and caught him by elbow. Immediately, Louis felt his heart sink and instinctively tried to break free but Harry held on tight, so Louis gave up and started, not looking up at the lad:

“Look… I… I know what you might be thinking and I just… I don’t know how… what… I just wanted to say that I’m sorry and that…”

“No”- Harry cut him off briskly, prompting Louis to look at him. His face was soft but determined, - “Let’s not do this here. Let’s go inside.”

Still holding him by the elbow, Harry lead him back into the diner.

They both sat in their seats from before. Harry still had his untouched tea on his side. Louis sighed and deflated, slumped and defeated in his chair. He wished he could deflate even more, maybe enough to just slide under the table and disappear. But he knew this would not happen, so he resorted to just looking at his lap. 

“So” – Harry started, extending his hand over the table to him, but not touching, - “that was pretty funny.”

“Funny?” – Louis lifted his head and, to his surprise, found Harry smiling, - “F-funny?”

“That wasn’t so bad” – Harry gave out a short laugh, - “Come on, you have to admit, these things don’t happen to us every day! It took me a couple minutes to figure it out… well, to hell with it, but let me ask you, so what is your name? And don’t tell me it’s Alexander, or I might…”

“It’s Louis” – Louis interrupted him, winced and looked down again. 

“Alright, Louis, it’s nice to meet you” – Harry must have made a gesture that Louis did not see, because after a small pause he continued just as chirpily, - “So. Who should now start?”

Louis remained silent.

“Alright, I will”, - Harry offered, - “So on Thursday I dropped by a local retirement center to ask if they might be hiring. They weren’t but they showed me a community board where I found a notice that someone named Alexander de Heuvel is urgently looking for a new private caretaker for his paraplegic diabetic father. I noted down the email and that same night sent him my resume. He invited me for an interview, here, today, in this diner.”

He finished and continued to smile, so Louis managed, voice barely above a whisper:

“And you’ve never seen him before?”

“No, of course not!” – Harry proceeded gleefully, - “My resume has a picture of me on it, so I assumed, he would recognize me when he sees me. I couldn’t imagine anything could go wrong!”

“So when I looked at you, you thought that I was Alexander?”

“Exactly! You were alone in the diner and you smiled at me – what else was I to think?” – he shrugged his shoulders, and it was so obvious in his affect just how amusing he found the whole situation, that Louis felt his neck muscles start to relax:

“And so you…. Okay, but when you told me about your grandfather… was that… was that because you thought it would be relevant to your job?”

“Yes and no” – the smile instantly faded from Harry’s face - “Yes, I thought it would be relevant, but on the other hand, when I was speaking to the real Alexander just minutes after – I did not tell him any of this…”

“Why?” – Louis interrupted before he could stop himself.

“Don’t know” – shrugged Harry again, - “Did not feel as comfortable as I did with you, did not think it was needed. But…” – he made a point to look Louis square in the eyes, - “Everything I told you is entirely true.”

“I know” – Louis whispered.

A beat passed and Harry’s smile returned:

“Alright” – He clapped his hands together, - “And now it’s your turn. Who did you think that I was?”

Louis looked away and bit his lip. Harry leaned onto the table:

“Come on!”- He looked like a child who was watching his ice cream being put into a cone, almost ready to be passed through the parents’ hands and into his own, - “Come on, pal, just spill it out! I’m dying to know and if you knew just…”

“Blinky 72.”

“What?” – Harry’s eyes got so big that Louis had to mentally chuckle, - “Excuse me?”

“Blinky 72” – Louis exhaled a sigh, - “From a dating website. Don’t say anything, just let me explain. We talked for a couple days, he didn’t have a picture on his profile… well, he did, but…. But not of his face and I… That’s…. the thing is, he never told me his name. Just said let’s meet, ten o’clock, this diner. I didn’t… That’s… and look, this is not to say that you look gay in any way or even like somebody who would use a dating site or a…”

Harry gestured wildly with his hands:

“A dating site? Somebody with a picture of his naked abs and whatever else, I don’t want to know, invites you to a dusty diner?? On a Saturday morning?? In Welkenraedt???”

“Don’t” – Louis winced and left his eyes closed, eyelids pressed tightly, - “Please. Now I understand that he had me on the entire time, and… I was extremely naïve and… stupid to be thinking that I…” – He did not feel able to continue so he just hid his face in the palm of his hand.

“You must have never done something like this before… Don’t worry, it happens” – Harry touched him lightly on the arm and his voice was suddenly so soft that Louis finally dared to look at him. His smile was sweet and gentle, rather than contemptuous or mocking.

“But so” – Suddenly Harry narrowed his eyes and Louis got ready for another blow, - “So if you thought that I was him – whatever his name there was – and if you wouldn’t have been able to recognize my face, you must have been looking at…”

“Don’t” – Louis shrieked and all but jumped out of his seat, but instead just ran his hand frantically through his hair - “God! For God’s sake! I don’t know what I was thinking…”

“Oh I know one thing that you were thinking” – Harry interrupted him, looking like a cat watching a mouse in a mousetrap, - “You thought that you were on a date. With me.”

Louis whined. A couple seconds passed in silence, during which Louis hoped desperately that the whole diner would be struck by lightning. Or maybe just both of them. Or maybe just him. Come on, the weathermen did promise shitty weather today in this shithole.

“And?” – He felt rather than saw Harry tilt his head.

“And what?” – Louis squeaked in return.

Harry laughed quietly, leaned back and stretched:

“Is there something you would like to ask me?”

Louis hesitated:

“S-sure… Did you get the job?”

Harry laughed out so boisterously and sincerely that Louis could not help but smile.

“I did, it was a piece of cake. The guy is really busy and he needs somebody right away. So I will start on Monday. But this is not what I meant by that question.”

Louis stared at him. A beat passed. Harry tilted his head the other way:

“Alright, then I will. Louis, would you like something to eat? I’ve read somewhere that that’s a normal thing to do on a first date. And after that we can see a movie, well if you’d like to, of course. I bet that if we take your truck, we’ll make to it a matinee, and they are quite a bit cheaper. So what do you say? Let’s split a bologna sandwich? I’ve had an eye on one for the past thirty minutes and my stomach is about to devour itself…”

And Louis just looked at him, forgetting to breathe, forgetting to blink, his heart probably forgetting to beat, what with Harry’s wild curls, his faded jean jacket, his mischievous smile and teasing dimples… and he felt his own head nod. Harry jumped up in an instant, gave him a silly salut and in two giant steps was already next to the counter. Louis watched him for another moment, before turning to look through the dusty window, this being an excuse to hide his unrelenting, face-splitting smile. And outside, bright rays of sun were bravely fighting their way through the clouds. It seems those weathermen were wrong after all. It was going to be a gorgeous day in Welkenraedt.


End file.
